Liquid fuel supply system



July 23, 1 E. F. MARTEL LIQUI D FUEL SUPPLY SYSTEM Filed Oct. 17, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l Inventor A ttorneys July 23, 1940.

E. F. MARTEL LIQUID FUEL SUPPLY SYSTEM Filed Oct. 17, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 VOFIVAL A iiorneys Patented July 23, 1940 LIQUID FUEL SUPPLY SYSTEM Edward F. Martel, Lewiston, Maine, assignor of one-third. to James H. Duncan, Lewiston,

Maine Application October 17, 1938, Serial No; 235,529

1 Claim. (01. 15s-.-3s') This invention relates to 'a liquid fuel supply system for burners of ranges and similar devices wherein the burners are commonly supplied with fuel by gravity from a portable supply receptacle which must be frequently filled, and has for the primary object the provision of a system which maybe readily connectedwith the burners, permitting the ordinary supply receptacle to become an auxiliary supply and which has a large capacity for fuel and will automatically supply the burners with fuel at a substantially constant level resulting in improved operation of the burners by producing a more uniform heat, the construction of the system being such that in case of temporary clogging or failure of flow of fuel from the source, the system will be automatically cut off to the burners for reducing fire hazards to a minimum and further through the use of this system the possibility of running out of fuel will be' eliminated. l

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

Fora complete understanding of my invention,

reference is'to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a diagrammatical view showing a liquid fuel supply system for burners and constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view illustrating l the i automatic means for maintaining a substantial constant level of fuelin the burners, and also including an automatic cutoff of the system.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating a part of the automatic cutoff.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 5 indicates a conventional type of liquid fuel burners wherein the fuel is supplied by gravity and must be kept at a subtantial given level. The feed pipes for the burners 5 are indicated by the character 6 and have therein control valves 1. The feed pipes 6 are connected to a'fuel supply pipe 8 leading to a fuel. reservoir 9 supplied with fuel from a bottle type container Hi. The construction described is conventional and it is well known that the container Ill has a very limited capacity for fuel, consequently needs refilling at frequent intervals. To eliminate this annoyance and to provide for better operation of the burners 5 the present invention is connected to the fuel supply pipe 8 and. consists of a main fuel supply tank ll located remotely to the valve 88 and the lever 26.

burners and in a plane above said burners and has an outlet pipe ll connected to a combined filter and air vent tank I2. A cutoff valve is provided in the pipe I l, as shown at l3, and is of the manually actuated type. filter and vent tank have connected thereto a vent pipe M. Extending from the bottom of the combined filter andairvent tank I2 is a feed pipe Hi. It will beseen that the fuel 'gravitates from the main supply tank I l into the combined filter and air vent tank and from said tank into the fuel feed pipe I5. The fuel passing through the filter has foreign matter removed therefrom and the tank l2 being vented will prevent the system. from becoming air locked. The fuel feed pipe l5 extends downwardly and then horizontally and then up vertically we selected height and again horizontally and is connected to a floattank l5 arranged vertically; and located in a plane slightly below thelastnamed horizontal portion of the fuel feed pipe;

15. The last-named horizontal portion of the fuel feed pipe l5 has therein a control valve l1 preferably of a needle type and manually operable so as to regulate the flow of fuel into the 1 The float tank l6 has afloat controlled valve 18 to which the feed pipe 15 is connected. Also located in the feed pipe [5 adjacent to its connection with the float operated valve I8 is a safety cutoff valve 19. Operating in the float tank is a float 26 having astem 2i operable in a guide 22 provided in the top wall of the tank. The stem 2! carries an arm 23 engageable with a float valve arm 24. pivotally mounted, as shown at 25, and has a limited slidable connection with the float valve IS, a spring 26 being interposed between the The spring 26 provides a yieldable drive between the lever 24 and the valve It to prevent jamming of the valve l8 against its seat by the float 2!]. The float 20 is provided. with a guide stem 21 depending therefrom into an outlet pipe 28 of the float tank and carried by the upper end of the outlet pipe is a concaved baffle plate 29 forming the lower portion of the float tank into a sludge chamber 30 in which sediment and other foreign matter may accumulate. The balile plate 29 is provided with openings 29 to permit the flow of fluid from the upper portion of the tank into the sludge chamber whereby sludge may accumulate therein. The float 2i! maintains a predetermined level of fuel in the float tank.

The valve I9 is closed by the action of a torsion The combined The latter-named arm is l U i and freeing the arm 32 to allow the valve I9 to close. It is to be understood that the valve I9 is held in an open position by the arm 32 having the head 33 thereof in engagement with the trip lever 34.

The outlet pipe 28 of the float tank extends I outwardly of the latter through the bottom thereof and is connected to the fuel supply pipe 8 as clearly shown in Figure 1 so as to maintain a predetermined level of fuel in the reservoir 9. This predetermined level of fuel is such that it will prevent fuel frompassing into the reservoir -9 from, the container Ill, consequently permitting the fuel in the container to remain therein until such time that the fuel in the main tank II becomes exhausted or at a time when there is a failure of the fuel to flow through the present system to the fuel pipe 8. I

As indicated in Figures 1 and 2 the maximum, normal and minimum fuel levels are indicated by horizontal lines and on the normal operation would automatically release the valve l9 and cut off the supply of fuel from the tank II. This also applies should the level 'of the fuel in the burners fall below the minimum level line, the float automatically releases the cutoff valve I9. When the supplytank I I becomes empty of liquid fuel and the fuel in the system arrives at a mini- .mum operating level, as indicated in Figure 1,

'no further fuel will flow into the reservoir 9 and the latter is then fed with liquid fuel from the container I until the supply tank II is again filled. When the level of the fuel in the system reaches minimum operating level as indicated in Figure 1 the float will then have positioned the float actuated valve in an open position so that when the supply tank I I is again filled with fuel the fuel may flow through the system for filling the reservoir 9 to a normal level.

In operation it is preferable that the valve ll be adjusted so that its orifice is smaller than the orifice provided in the float valve I8 to prevent any foreign matter traveling with the fuel from the main fuel tank I I from entering and clogging the float valve I8. Any foreign matter that may pass through the valve I I can easily pass through the float valve. Whenever the flow of fuel is stopped by clogging of the valve I! the latter may be manually opened to a greater extent allowing the clogging material to be flushed on through to the float tank where it will be taken care of by the sludge chamber 30.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that through the use of this system the burners will be fed with fuel by gravity at a substantially constant level and that the fuel will be freed of all foreign matter and the system will be prevented from becoming air bound. As the fuel is fed to the burners strictlyby gravity the cost of operation of the system is reduced to a minimum and also noise is eliminated. It is believed that the foregoing description,

when taken in connection with the drawings, will fully set forth the construction and advantages of this invention to those skilled in the art to which such a device relates, so that further detailed description will not be required.

Having thus described my invention I claim:

In combination with liquid fuel burners of the gravity feed type and a reservoir connected thereto for supplying fuel'to the burners at a predetermined level and furnished with fuel from a liquid fuel container by gravity, a main fuel tank remotely located to said reservoir and at an elevation thereabove to feed fuel thereto by gravity, a pipe system connecting said tank to said reservoir for conveying fuel thereto by gravity, float controlled tank connected in said pipe system and including a float actuated valve, a float for operating said valve for maintaining fuel at a predetermined height in the reservoir and at a height to prevent flow of fuel from said container to the reservoir, a self-closing cutoff valve located in said pipe system between the float valve and the main fuel tank, a trip mechanism for releasably securing the cutoff valve open, and means connected to said float for operating the trip mechanism to free said cutoff valve for closing by the float moving beyond a predetermined distance in either of the directions of travel thereof.

' EDWARD F. MARTEL. 

